The Silent Room

There are two shows that I believe deserves special praise this year. It’s been a year full of moe and morbid humour, but some shows have managed to stay away from this trend and came out shining at the very top of their game. There are two of my favourites, one of which I would crown Anime of the Year 2007.

However, for its excellence and grip, I decided that the other favourite title deserves just as much and I will therefore name Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion as one of the best 2007 had to offer.

Let’s see why this show was such a magnificent run, but first let us start off with a plot synopsis. Lelouch [pronounced Lu-looch], a boy genius and a royal Britannian prince hides behind a pseudonym after a political strife killed his mother and incapacitated his sister. On a fateful day, he finds himself an opportunity to destroy the very empire that fucked his life upside-down.

Somewhere along the way, he is granted with the Geass, a special ability that allows him to hypnotise a target and make them absolutely obey his orders down to the letter. He gains control and the trust of a band of terrorists – a group of so-called ‘freedom fighters’ – and leads them as their strategist and pits them against an empire that pretty much rules 30% of the world powers.

Combined with powers of his Geass, he goes on to perform miracles that would eventually lead to a road that would topple the world’s greatest empire. That’s about it, I’m not going to say anymore at the risk of spoiling the wonderful plot.

Okay, so the plot summary doesn’t do the story any justice, but it should be enough to set the scene in your mind. Looking at it from a technical view, Code Geass is a ‘real robot’ mecha series by Sunrise [think Gundam] filled with bishie characters designed by the popular mangaka group CLAMP [Tsubasa Chronicles, anyone?].

Best. Cameraman. Ever.

I started watching this show after several recommendations, at that time about 4 episodes have been aired [and fansubbed]. I saw the CLAMP character design, and noted that it was a Sunrise production, too. I started on episode 1 with nothing more than a chuckle at the preset bias, but I decided to give it a level ground. After two episodes, Code Geass got me hooked.

After having had enough of giant robots fighting aliens and plot-shielded pilots, Code Geass was like a breath of fresh air for me. I watched one episode of Gurren Lagaan and just groaned, but I was very happy that Geass was there to feed my thirst for a good mecha show. What really drew me into the series was that the battles were centered around strategy, and not the individual abilities or special powers that a certain type of mecha has. Many mecha shows appear to suffer from this ’super robot’ syndrome that just annoys the hell out of me.

One thing that bothered me about Sunrise mecha productions is the ‘recycled scenes’ disease, which has appeared in more than a few occasions. Fortunately, since each battle in Geass is uniquely strategized and micro-managed, it leaves little room for reusable scenes throughout the better part of the show.

As with many other previous mecha ventures by Sunrise, Code Geass also explores the political aspects of war but they decided to do something a bit more fancy – toss some mythical legend into the mix. Enter C.C., a green-haired pizza glutton who is capable of cursing the fates men and make strait jackets look sexy.

Okay, so it’s a doujin artwork. Sorry I can’t get a good screencap of that.

As the show goes further, it was hinted that C.C. could have been an immortal, having lived through countless deaths of all variations and have traversed over hundreds of years of human civilisation. She is also the person who granted Lelouch his Geass ability. Her past leaves much to be discovered, and her current fate remains largely unknown.

Lelouch’s Geass was pretty much the main plot device for the many impossibilities that appeared throughout the show. However, for a plot device it actually maintained a believable degree of realism as it’s not exactly the Geass that wins Lelouch’s many battles, but rather his intellect – utilising the Geass as a tool of war. To put it in perspective, it was not guns that sparked the wars throughout history, but the people who used them, and how they were used.

Code Geass carried itself with grace, even with the introduction of yet another popular plot device – one-of-a-kind prototype units. The Lancelot and Gurren Mk. II were obviously key units meant to turn the tides of battles, but they were not invincible [*cough*StrikeFreedom*cough*].

Despite being special units, they were still susceptible to EMP traps and will begin to falter when seriously outnumbered. Even units as powerful as the Gawain can be outmaneuvered by a single standard issue Gloucester unit. Heck, even the cannon-fodder Glasgows manage to put up good fight scenes. The production team held on to an important rule that applied to the real world: being special does NOT make you invincible.

Many who have watched Geass tell me that they felt like watching Death Note in a Gundam SEED setting. I wouldn’t say that they’re wrong, though. Like SEED, Geass was led by two bishie looking emo teenage boys manipulating robots that kills hundreds of people. And like Death Note, Geass driven mostly around deception and strategy. Of course, for obvious reasons, we shall not thoroughly compare those three.

While I don’t really care about CLAMPs style of character designs, I can appreciate that the characters blend nicely with the story. Sure, there’s the occasional fanservice every now and then but it’s nothing really worth mentioning. What I really liked was the costume designs. I mean, take a look at Kallen.

There ya go. Gotta love those thigh-highs.

So, to wrap this up, Code Geass is an excellent show, offering the best things anime has to offer: giant robots, carefully strategised battles, deceptive plot twists, hot chicks and consistently fluid animation. Though it’s airing schedule was quite fucked up, it doesn’t really matter now that the batched DVDrips are out. It ended with a cliffhanger, which definitely means a second season would be coming some time in the future, but I’ve yet to hear of any news.

With lots of oranges rolling around, I strongly urge you to watch Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion as I would name it the runner-up for the title of Anime of the Year 2007.

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So, what do you think I’d choose to be Anime of the Year 2007?
Check this page often as we come to the final installation of Silencers’ Long-Overdue Anime Review series!

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